It's never made sense to me that donor eggs could fix every issue of aging and fertility — the uterus, after all, ages, too. Now a new study shows age-related changes in the womb impact pregnancy success even with donor eggs after 49. www.bbc.com/news/article...

If you ever wondered how space travel might impact your fertility, well, here you go: www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

This is the smartest thing I’ve read on the genome in a long time. The metaphor of DNA as ”code” I sometimes think has been more hurtful than helpful www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...

Study finds hormonal birth control could have a protective effect on the brain later in life. One thing this highlights that is definitely understudied is the long-term effects of taking BC news.ku.edu/news/article...

I have never once gotten a perfect sleep score. My cat on the other hand:

Sometimes I wish I had been a reporter in this era of science

Remember when you could call a post-menopausal woman a "castrate" in a medical journal? History is fun agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

My hack for work-life balance while writing a book:

Kayla Barnes-Lentz owns a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. But her advice for the every woman looking to maximize her healthspan is much more basic: eat well, sleep well and move. New from me for Bloomberg Businessweek

"He drove fast cars, drank red wine, and pissed people off." @matthewherper.bsky.social on Craig Venter www.statnews.com/2026/04/30/c...

really fascinated by emerging work on the gut microbiome and fertility www.nature.com/articles/s41...

PSA: ChatGPT does not have to comply with HIPAA! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/t...

New study finds IVF doesn't increase overall risk of cancer, but uterine, ovarian and breast cancer rates were slightly higher. The study I would really like to see is health outcomes among IVF superusers who have done 4+ cycles www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Today in whoa dude: researchers found part of a cat’s spine can twist 360 degrees, part of why they always land on their feet www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/s...

You can now get your fertility drugs through Costco sesamecare.com/service/fert...

Very glad we’ve moved past inserting electrodes into women’s vaginas

I keep seeing all this stuff about vibration plates but riding the subway hands free at rush hour basically does the same thing.

Would you like to go on a $7,000 retreat to "empower" your menopause journey? www.canyonranch.com/mpower

When people talk about our lack of IVF access here in the US, the UK is often held up as an example of something to aspire to. A reality check on how accessible IVF really is for UK residents: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Not only did I cry from laughing so hard reading this, it’s exactly how I felt when I had my first colonoscopy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

totally gutted

Bought a smart plant monitor and now it feels like my plants are constantly texting me the equivalent of “you up?”

this insect is so beautiful it took me a long time to accept that it really wasn’t AI m.youtube.com/watch?v=FdfX...

A new survey out yesterday highlights just how popular these sorts of tests are: 17% of people said they have ordered a test they found on social media. www.siemens-healthineers.com/en-us/patien...

A little personal story to illustrate how more data can mean more problems: Recently, I tried out one of these test-everything tests. One marker came back slightly elevated. Just in case, my doc ordered a colonoscopy which led to a CT scan which led to the conclusion everything was normal.

You've probably gotten ads in your feed for companies like Function that offer extensive lab tests to keep you healthy (or find out what's wrong). More data isn't always a good thing, though. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/w...

so much this www.newscientist.com/article/2509...

For years, scientists studying reproductive aging regarded most of the ovary as so unimportant that it was literally trashed. Now, emerging research has found that the entire organ plays a role in fertility, menopause, and a woman's overall health. New from me: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/h...

I can’t get over the pivotal plot twist in Jingle Bell Heist in which somehow someone cracks a safe requiring DNA to access it because they are simply RELATED to the safe owner. Not gonna work folks!

So the period panty company Knix funded a documentary on the little pink pill... honestly not sure how to feel about this one www.fastcompany.com/91439618/a-n...

Coverage of IVF 20 years ago vs today: It's too regulated!

A review of reviews found there is not enough evidence to link Tylenol to autism in pregnancy. The assumption is always that women should avoid a drug just *in case* of adverse outcomes. We have got to stop treating pregnant people as vessels for the unborn. www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Allan Brooks, the corporate recruiter from Canada I wrote about in August who went into a 3-week-long delusional spiral with ChatGPT, sued OpenAI Thursday, alongside six other plaintiffs. They blame ChatGPT for their mental breakdowns and for four suicides. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/t...

Michigan is trying to legislate against “fraud” in IVF with the argument that IVF is unregulated. I always think people throw that word around too much with fertility - there are ramifications for fraud in any branch of medicine. IVF included. michiganadvance.com/2025/11/05/m...

Female doctors are making decisions about where to work based on egg-freezing policies. It's a misnomer that most women choose to freeze because of work, but anecdotally, when I DO hear that reason from people, they are often doctors. www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcover...

Remember when NYC would shame you if you didn’t move your car for street-sweeping? www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/n...

I always find it instructive to look at how naysayers talked about new technologies in the past. One of my favorite past critics of IVF is Leon Kass, who was basically convinced it would somehow lead to incest and adultery and the end of our "humanness" www.nationalaffairs.com/storage/app/...

There are more and more companies out there offering new ways to "control" the health of your future kid. I'm not sure there is any amount of pre-implantation testing that can give future parents the level of control they really desire. Genetics is just not that good! www.axios.com/2025/10/21/a...

Wow to some of the comments are the first IVF baby was born. "Something frogs do in a dirty stream"!

Had no idea the second IVF baby in the world was born in India (but contested). Usually early IVF success is just talked about in terms of US, UK and Austrailia. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

I'm not sure there's any tweak that can actually make IVF "gentle" but this is some good marketing www.sdbj.com/healthcare-2...

The contentious public hearing is one of my favorite genres of news stories.

It's absolutely bonkers that this book is still in print. I promise you, douching with vinegar is definitely not a good way to guarantee a girl. It IS a good way to mess up your vaginal microbiome, though!

I have more that one friend right now convinced they have "mold toxicity." The influence of the black mold truthers is real unherd.com/2025/10/meet...

LaGuardia down to a single taxi runway today thanks to the shutdown. At 9:30 am flights are already backed up

A surprising upside to Taylor Swift's very mid new album: Galvanizing thousands of extremely online Swifties to campaign against the use of generative AI for creative work.

This is why AI poses a threat to the medical profession. Not that it can offer anything a doctor can't (at least not right now)! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Bought the iPhone air in gold, was convinced they accidentally sent me a white phone and convinced them to send me a new one ... it turns out that the gold phone really is just .... white? very confused!

Not every day a skin cell is turned into viable egg! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Many thanks to @kristenvbrown.bsky.social for speaking to our community about "Communicating Science to the Masses" an important and relevant topic!